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Nokia is finding the U.S. market a tough nut to crack for its extensive line of smartphones, especially for the business-centric Eseries. Why just last week AT&T stopped selling the E62, a Symbian/S60 smartphone built in the mold of (and to compete with) the RIM BlackBerrys, Palm Treos and Motorola Qs of the world—with its tablet shape and QWERTY thumb-keyboard. Launched last October, the E62, a downgrade from the E61 released elsewhere (no Wi-Fi or 3G), did not set the mobile world on fire.

nonetheless, Nokia is back at it with two new Eseries phone models: the E61i and E65. Although the E61i (see top image) and E65 sport different form factors, they are just about the same feature-wise.

The E61i is an upgrade from the E62 with its slim tablet design and QWERTY keyboard, while the E65 is a candy-bard slider with a numeric keypad. The latter's 240 x 320 pixel (QVGA) resolution display is in a portrait orientation and it has 50MB of RAM, while the former's similar screen rests naturally in landscape mode and it has 60MB of internal storage.

Both quad-band GSM smartphones models run on the Symbian OS with the S60 interface and have microSD slots for memory expansion. They also support 3G cellular-wireless data networking, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a 2 megapixel camera for picture and video,


                       E65

Of course, there's the usual array of software, including those for attachment viewing and editing (including for Microsoft Office documents), PIM applications, a Web browser, music player, video player, etc.

Although not offered by a mobile operator like the E62 was - so no subsidies - the new smartphones will be available from a variety of sources: to the IT channel through distribution agreements with Brightpoint and Ingram Micro; online through Dell.com, Gateway and Mobileplanet; and at Nokia's Flagship Stores in Chicago and New York.

The E61i and E65 will go for about $400 each; pricing may vary slightly depending on the retailer.